Improvement in knitting-machines



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i lowing is a specification:

' t n yrrn'i, trg ifpwejr ends @reliever-apn jaars PATENT-@FFME- EDOUARD rArLBOUrS ANDAMBROI'SE RENEVEY, or Sr. JUsr-nN-OHAUSSEE,

FRANCE, ASSIGNORS To JOSEPH FREEMAN, or WINDSOR Looks, con-N.

.IMPROVEMENT IN lKNITi'IrJG-IwAcHINlas.'

Specification forming part of LetiersPatent No. 136,0 [-2, dated Felruary lli, 19,73.

To all whoinct may concern:

Beit known that we, EDOUARD TAILBOUIS and AMBROISE RENEVEY, off- St.Just-en n ChausS ee,France, have invented a new and Improved Knitting-Machinefof which the fol-J Our inventionv consists in the'V improvement of knitting-machines, as hereinafter described and claimed.

proved knitting-machine. .Fig. 2 is a partial side eleva-tion. Fig. Sis a sectional elevation of Fig. 2 taken on the line :v horizontal section taken on the line y y of Fig. 1. Fig.. 5 is a horizontal section taken O11 the line z z of Fig. l. Fig; 6 is a detail showing an alternative arrangement of apparatus forr shifting some ofy the cams. Fig. 7 is a plan view of theiixed inside cam and movable cams thereon lfor-throwing out the jacks of the upper needlesit also Shows some of the outside cams; and Fig.8 is a Section of a piece of work showingl a part consisting of two separate fabrics merged in a single fabric, as an example of work whichv our machine is capable of" producing.

Similar lettersof reference indicate correspondin'g parts.

A representsthe grooved revolving cylinder of an ordinary vertical circular knittingmachine; C, the vertical needles ;V D and D', thejacks ofY thesaidneedles. This cylinder is connected to the upper end of "the tubular shaftE above the platform F. Said shaft extends below .the platform and has the drivingwheel G mounted on it. VI is the stationaryY cylinderfor confining the jacks inthe grooves. The top of thiscylinderA is, like other machines, provided .with the comb-like projections H for knocking 'the' stitches off the ends of the needles. In this, example there are three cams for raising the needles, and three feeders J but any-other number may be used,

as preferred. lThe cams are represented by the pieces K L, arranged separately and made adjustable vertically for purl'ioses that will be explained further on. i 'Y "fllhe horizontal circularknitting mechanism comprises the vneedles ll/I, projecting horizon- Fig. "4 is ai N N through the comb 0 on the 'upper edge 'of the concave disk 2P suspended on the lower end of the vertical shaft Q, which hangs from K the arm -R in the vertical axis of cylinder A, said arm lt being supported on the column-S,

or in any other approved way. The jacks N N"are pivoted in the grooved and notched y face# of a disk, T, and work in' guiding and H Y y supporting notches Vof another disk, U, both Figure l1 is a sectional elevation of our i1n of which disks are supported on shaft Q, above a fixed disk, W, so-as to Vrevolve freely, and the comb disk l) is`also arranged to revolve on said shaft, being `held on it vertically by the oil-cup X which receives and retains the drip from above. These jacks are caused to swing forward at they lower ends to work the needles M by the face ofdisk W', which throws the needles out far enough to take the thread, but not to cast the stitches behind the latches,

for whichone 'or more cams, Y, Z, are ar- Y ranged on said disk W, inside of thev circle ot' jacks', and for swinging them backward the exterior cams c (also other exterior camswhich will be described hereafter) are used, and said jacks are revolved by .the wheels b d, Shaft e, and the jacks of cylinder A, with which wheel d gears, the wheel b gearing with those ofthe upper cylinder. These jacks are held in the grooved disk T at the top, and prevented from lbeing thrown out too far jat the lower endby the coiled spring Yy',

' These horizontal needles work between the vertical ones, and they have as many sets of cams Y, Z, and a, Src., as there are cams, Src., to the lower needles, and each set is arranged in the vertical plane of a feeder and camsfor said lower needles. The cams Y Z are arranged to `be 'shifted out and vin on the, disk W by 'the slides R1 and levers Z2 to have themlhese two Systems compriseknitting mechl anisms which, working "together, `produce plain ribbed work ofthe ordinarysort, but .eaoh maybe worked separately :to produce` 'plain work,ior Aeither theverticalor horizontalneedles may be worked alone; and one set may be making plain work while the other set is making fancy work.

The mode of working the two sets of needlestogether for plain ribbed work is similar to the mode of operation in .other knittingframes having vertical and l horizontal nee dles, and need not be described but for working each set separately to producea separate fabric on each a separate thread is supplied to each set, the one for the vertical needles being fedthrough one guide at g, where the horizontal needles will be forced back before they take the thread by the cam t' pivoted on the lower side of cam a, being shifted inward and held against the jacks, thereby forcing said needles into the notch fn of disk W, the cams Y Z being shifted backward, lthus throwing the horizontal needles out of action at that place where the vertical needles take the thread and .form the stitches. But at the next feeder the horizontallneedles will take the thread While the vertical needleswill be prevented from working so as to throw off their stitches by the lowering ofthe cams K L, so that said needles cannot rise high enoughfor they loops to pass below the latches, and they will be. prevented from taking the thread supplied to the horizontal needles by reason of the said thread being fed through the eye g, which is so far in advance that their hooks pass belowthe comb H before the thread comes within their range. But at this feeder thesaid horizontal needles will, in this case, be forced backward further than when they are working in connection-with the vertical needles. by a cam, a', in order to draw in. thread enough to form the stitches. This is not necessary when the two sets of needles are working togetherbecause the Vertical needles govern the length ofthe stitches. The needles M Iare then forced back by cams ai These separatefabrics can be instantly merged in one vby'rst; shiftingfcams Y Z outwardagain; then shifting the cam t' so as to let thehorizontal needles remain out long enough to take the thread at the feeder where the vertical needles take it, and then shifting cam a so that the horizontal needles will be pushed .backby the cams a; also shifting the cams K L upward at the feeder where the horizontal .needles take the thread, and shifting' the thread thereat backfto the feeder g.

.Inthis manner we make the double welts for the tops of stockings,shownvat Fig. 8, or any other double fabric of anylength or shape. For instance, we may make the feet of stockings in this way. 1

1t will be noticed thatboth setsofjacks are of Itwo sorts, and eachisortjs provided with its independent"camwhich will act on one sort and not on the"- ther-that'is to say, the jacks j, and aprojection, k, and the msLKf being up,;will only act. on andjacks N havea notchpfwhereby notch, l, andprojection m, so L, lbemgup, will only. :raton-jacks cams Y will not actuate them, while jacks N/ have anoteh, q, so that they will notl be actuated bythe cams Z. These two sorts of jacks 'may be arranged alternately with each other, or in any other approved order. As tothe .upper jacks we .do not, however, limit ourselves to these two sorts andtheir corresponding cams, for it is evident we may have as many of these differential notches, andvcams therefor, as the upper rangeof the jacks will admit of, and for this purpose this range may be considerably extended.

With these arrangements several changes in the order of working the needles may be made; for instance, at one feeder the needles of jacks D may not be raised high enough for the loops to pass below the latches, while the others work in Ithe ordinary way, and at the next feeder and set of cams said jacks I) may be raised and castoif double stitches, while the others may either continue in the ordinary way, or they may not rise the full height, a'r'd so make double stitches, and so on, and the same changes can be made with the horizontal needles, and these again can be varied by varying the operations of the two sets relatively to each other; but foristill further en larging the' limit of these changes we provide some of the jacks NVN with projections t on the outside, and others with projections u ina higher plane, and a cam, w, for projec tions t, and another, x, for projections u, by

` which we may push some of the jacks back in the same manner that they are all pushed back by cam z', so as not to take the thread, While others are allowed to remain forward toy take it; and the needles forced back atV one feeder may be allowed to remain forward at the next, or otherwise,"as we choose, to adjust the cams zu or at each feeder. s

As in the case of the internal cams Y Z and notches therefor inthe jacks, we are not limited in these cams and projections to the number here shown, but maymultiplythem along up the jacks as much as the lengths of the latter will allow, and we may have said cams at all the feeders, or not, as We prefer.

In order to vary the length of theV stitches formed by the vertical needles, we make the lowerportion z3 of the upper part of the stationary cams for forcing the needles down so that itvcan be adjusted Vhigher or lower in a groove for long or short stitches, and we mount it-on the lower end of an adjusting screw-rod,

b1, mounted in the projection c1, with an adjusting-nut, d1, below said projection to force the cam down, and a spring, e1,- above to raise it. Said adjustable piece is heldin its groove bya screw,f, and friction-sprin g g. Below the lower end of this adjustable piece is a presser,

h,`constantly pushed upward by a spring, i', which is employed towactlon the lower ends of the projections kand mofthe jacks,'and

pressthe shoulders j'fup against said-piece z?, ,and prevent, the ,Jenks -Yefreeli Welllillgv loosely Y as they would otherwisewdo'- when .the"p iecev z3 wasl raised, so as to make a groove wider than the projections.` The adj usting-nut d? has notches in the periphery, and a spring-pawl, d2, acting in conjunction with it to prevent it from working around bythe jarringof the machine. We also provide a littleledge or lip, klfon the outer face of the lower part of -this movable piece z3, and providea spring-catch, 1,1, in connection therewith, so that when itis required to knit one row of very slack stitches, to pre'- pare theiwork for being run onto another set of needles, we can readily do so by forcing the :piecefz3 down,and y engaging-'it by this ledge k1 to the catch, and allowin g' it to remain during one round. As it may sometimes happen that the stitches'willfailof being knocked oif the vertical needles bythe comb H when forced down by the cam zfwe have introduced a secondary cam or tappet, m2, behind the piece c?, which gives another slight downward movement tothe needles to insure the'knocking off.V VWe also make this vertically adjustable, to be shifted according to the lengthof'the stitches being'made; For shifting the cams KLup and down to have them act on the jacksffor not, we may use levers ml, connectedfto stud-pins u1, and mounted in. a standf,ol, asshownfin Figs. l1 and 2, or'a slotted plate, pl, fixed 'on pins Vq1 to-slide forward `and backlaterally on the 'iiXed cylinder I, with an oblique slot, 1r', for the stud-pinar',- or any other equivalent contrivance may be used; The feeders J Varearrangelfso as .to slide backward from the needles in their. supports J1 for convenience "in threading them, and they are held in'A position:` by tensionsprings J2; Y

-Wewill now-` explainV several adjustments `and modes of operation for producing several.

kinds of work, beginningwith making double'- ribbed workron the vertical needles and plainribbed work ou the horizontal needles at the same time. I First, the cams KL at one of the feeders are 1owered,'so-that the needles only rise high enough to take lthe thread `from the guide fg, but not high enough to allow the loops already on them to pass below the latch-V es-,so that when they godown again they will have two loops underrthe hooks. At the next feeder the cams K L will be raised as high as the needles will allowyso that the two loops willfall below the latches,l to 'be cast. offtogether, in the further progress of therwork,`in

the usual way, thereby making double stitches.'

Byrepeating 'continually this process' we 'always obtain the same rows rof double stitches on the vertical needles. At the saine time, by working the horizontal Vneedles inregular order, We have :double-ribbed work by the vertical-needleson one sideof the fabric and plainribbed work by the horizontal needles on'the otherside but by adjusting the camsY Z ofV therhorizontalneedles back at oneJ-feedenso asnottoA force -the said needles outfar enoughl tocast the loops behindjthe .latches,g and adr j ust-ing' said cams ffuward.V to'castfthem oif at fthe next, and lthereby cause them to Work ia the same order as above described for the vertical needles, we have double-ribbed Work on bothsides. In this case the adjustments will besuch that needles of one 4set .Will Stake on the second stitch at that feeder where the other needles cast off the double loops, and vice versa.V Now, if,'in these operations, threads of different colorsbe used at the dierent feeders -say a black 011e on one feeder and a whiteone on Jfheother--the result will be a black surface on` one side' of .the work and-a white one on the" other; vbut,.: if the .work be pulled or stretched out laterally, a whiteinterior will be seen from that 'side which shows ablack surface and a black interior will'be seen from .ticalandv horizontal needles, and raise only one camfor the vertical needles at each feeder, and the same for the horizontal needles, but opposite Vor contrary to each other, we produce quite anotherarticle or style of work. VThese double-ribb'ed'stitches can either be continued all/the time or'y be alternated from time to time by plain or other'work, at will.

' To produce vertical stripes of anynumber of stitches in width, and at any distance apart, any number of the jacks" of either sorts-D or .D can be placed Vside by side Nor alternately, according to the'width-of stripes required and the number of stripes;` then Vbyraisingfone of the cams and' lowering'the other those jacks only will be raised which come in contact with the raised cam at'one feeder; :then theV others will be raised at -zthe next y.feederby having the cams reversed thereat,.vvhereby,if a black thread be supplied-at one feeder and awhite j one at theotherfive shalllhave white and black stripes on the vertical needles. Andzagain, if -we` have only one. cam' up at'one feeder, and at the next feeder have-both cams. up, and. at the sameztime work with the .threadsofy different colors, we shall obtain both vertical and horizontal stripes, which can be varied at pleasure. Vertical stripes made onvertical needles lonlyare always tuckedL-that is7 they comprise double stitches, such as previously described for the double-ribbed work-,

' and the rest of the work'lis simple ribbed work.

Preciselyisimilar results .can be obtained on the horizontal lneedlesi by exactly the same changes in the adjustments of the-needles of therupper part of the machine, the same kinds of-work V'bein g .produced oniboth sets of needles, at the same time makingthe Work alike on both sides, whereby `itwill bev reversible at pleasure, or one set may make diiferent kinds cf work, while other kinds are made by the .other set. Y x l M .In additiouto this capacityof thehorizontal needles for .performingswork of thesame kimltthatI the vertical needles fdo, they can make stripes, squares, andmany other useful f combinations of di'derent-U stitchesi For'- instanceby pushing in, say, the cam Jv at one. of the feeders to act on those jacks N having the upper projectionsu, the needles that are carried by these jacks are pushed so far backward that the hooks do not catch the thread at this feeder; thereby the work will not show the color of the thread of that feeder in the stitches formed by these needles, but will show on the others; but by reversing the order at the next i'eeder--thatis, pulling the cam .r out and pushing cam win to act on the jacks having the projections't-the said color will then be shown in the stitches of' needles on jacks N and not on those of N.

The fancy stitches' hereinbefore described may be incorporated ith any style of' Work commonly produced on knitting-machines* that is to say, some portions of the machine may be adjusted for producing these fancy stitches While others are making work of the ordinary kinds.

To produce plain or fancy Work on the vertical needles only the horizontal needles and all their appurtenances are lifted and secured out of' the Way of the lower needles.

The double stitches cause the fabric to spread considerabley more than the single stitches, because double the quantity of' yarn is employed, and thereby very greatly facilitate the widening and narrowing ofthe fabric to shape it to the form required, as, say, iu the case of` jackets, by alternating double stitches and single stitches in any order or proportion, according to the taper required, or by alternating one or more courses of' double and single stitches.

Having thus described our invention, We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters .Patentl l. The combination, with the two sets of needles, of a thread-guide for the horizontal needles advanced beyond the position for feeding both sets, the cam and the cam w having notch n, substantially as and for the purpose specified. Y

2. The combination, with the adjustable piece z3, of a spring-actuated pusher, hl, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the adjustableA piece a", of a catch, I', substantially as specified.

4. A secondary cam or tappet, m2, arranged with the cam-grooverfor the vertical needles, substantially as specified.

5, The combination of' the needlejacks N N', cams w, Y, Z, and a., and comb-disk l), substantially as specified.

6. The needle-jacks N N having the differential projections t a, in combination with the cams w rv, whether said projections are arranged alternately or otherwise, substantially as specified.

7. In a machine comprising the two systems of needles herein described, the combination, with the horizontal needles, of the cam w having the notched port-ion n, the cams 'i and a, and a feeder, 7L, arranged in such relation to the vertical needles as to deliver the yarn in advance of' the vertical needles, substantiallyas specified.

8. In a machine comprising the two systems of' vertical and horizontal needles, the combination with the said horizontal needles and. the cam 'w having the notched part n of' the cam a', substantially as specified.

9. The arrangement of' the slides Zl and le- 'vers Z'2 with the shaft Q and cams Y Z, substantially as specified.

' EDOUARD TAILBOUIS.

AHBROISE RENEVEY.

Witnesses:

LEON CHAMBON, PIERRE RENEvE Y. 

